Chapter Eighteen
Meg:You lied to me!
Ratigan: What did you honestly expect?
Meg: The truth, for once!
Ratigan: (sighs) I'm the Napoleon of Crime. Telling the truth to a seventeen-year-old drama queen isn't on my list of priorities.
Meg: That's it. I'm going to have my revenge!
"Sir? May I ask a favor?"
"What is it?" Ratigan asked as he made calculations on his chalkboard in the study.
"Well," Rose shuffled her feet, "could I have a day off tomorrow?"
"I give you Sundays off, and that isn't enough for you? What do you need this day off for?"
"Someone wants me to help her find a gift for her cousin's daughter."
"And you can't do that on Sunday?"
"The stores aren't open on Sundays, sir."
"True. I forgot." Ratigan finished up his calculation and set the chalk down. "Who is this 'someone' you're going with?"
"Scarlet Jones, sir."
"The name sounds familiar. Who is she?"
"A… a prostitute, sir. She works around The Rat Trap."
"Interesting. And you're… friends, with this woman?"
"Well, yes," Rose said.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. He looked at a spot above Rose's head, as if deeply contemplating the conversation at hand. "Have you asked me for a day off before?"
"Yes, sir."
"When?"
"Around Christmas."
"Then no."
"But sir, you didn't give it to me."
"I didn't? Why?"
Rose thought that he must be in one of his distracted moods. "Because of that meeting in Stockholm, sir. You made me come with you and take notes."
"Right… well, fine. Have the day off tomorrow." He picked the chalk up again. She turned to leave when he said, "Does this Scarlet Jones know you work for me, Rose?"
"Yes, sir. But she wouldn't tell. No one would."
Rose thought she heard him say something like, "She better not," under his breath, but when she turned around, he was plugging away at another calculation.
"Good night, sir."
He grunted in reply.
Scarlet and Rose sat in the kitchen of The Rat Trap that afternoon, showing Millie their purchase of that afternoon, a small mechanical man and woman that danced across the table in small, box-like steps.
"It's adorable!" Millie exclaimed. "Why, I've never seen anything like it!"
"That's what I said," Rose said, laughing. "But it was so expensive!"
Scarlet shrugged. "Anythin' for my Deidre. I 'aven't seen the gel since she was a wee liddle baby."
"Where did you find it?" Millie asked.
"Some Scot's toy shop. Flaversham, I think the name was."
Rose took the dancers up in her hand. "There were some other mechanical things in there… toy soldiers, a train, a little cat and dog."
"Way too much on my salary!" Scarlet said.
Rose sighed. "I still say you should have let me pay for it."
"No, no."
"But I have plenty of money."
Scarlet shook her head. "No."
"But you spent so much today! You can't afford that."
Scarlet shook her head. "I'm fine."
Rose frowned. Scarlet was in dire straights right now, and everyone knew it. She had the consumption, and coughed up blood. As a result her business suffered. She was barely hanging onto her flat.
Rose had offered to help her (she had earned so much money from working for Ratigan, both with the cleaning and the crimes, that she had asked the professor to put it in a bank account for her under a different name), but Scarlet had refused.
"Scarlet, you're not doing well. Let me help. I want to help."
"No. Ye earned yer money," she said with a hint of contempt.
"But I want to help you, at least until you get back on your feet."
"No."
Millie sighed. "Rose, give it up. She don't want your money."
"But she needs it! And besides, I would probably have been killed when I first arrived here if it hadn't been for Scarlet. I have to pay her back somehow."
"Ye should be killin' me for that," Scarlet said in a low voice. "I always regretted takin' you in that first night."
"Why?" Rose asked.
"Because ye've been corrupted since then. Yer not the same sweet, innocent thing. And it's all my fault."
"Scarlet! You saved me! I love my life!"
"Ye love makin' others suffer?"
"No… but I only help steal things. I don't kill anyone."
"But still… yer stealin' things that don't belong to ye."
Rose was starting to get insulted. "Sometimes you have to put stupid rich people in their places," she said, rewording something Ratigan had once said.
Scarlet stared at her. "I can't believe ye! Ye actually like hurting people, taking their money, the money they worked long an' hard for?"
"No! Only rich people who have more, only-"
"But they're still people, and they still have feelins'!"
"You know, if you really despise my lifestyle so much, then why do you even talk to me?"
"Because I like ye," Scarlet said firmly. "I don't want ye to get into trouble."
"You're a little too late, honey," Millie said matter-of-factly.
"Rose, get yerself out of this mess! Make it easier for yerself!"
Rose sighed. Scarlet did this about once or twice a month, trying to convince her to turn Ratigan in. It had not worked yet.
"No."
"But-"
"No! Scarlet, I've never been happier working for the Boss."
Scarlet shook her head. "What time ye got?"
Rose pulled out her pocketwatch. "Half past six."
Scarlet sighed. "I got to get ready for work. We're talkin' about this later, Rose. Ye need to leave."
Rose woke up at midnight to the rumbling of thunder. She peeked out the curtain. It was pouring down rain.
She heard someone pounding on her door. She wrapped her blanket around her and went to the door. "Who is it?"
"Gerald. Let me in."
Rose opened the door. Gerald slipped into the room and shut the door.
"Rose, you've got to come. He's in another one of his moods."
"Who?" Rose asked.
"The Boss."
"When did this start?" Rose asked, lighting a candle.
"This morning."
"But I can't do anything!" Rose exclaimed. "My presence seems to irritate him even more when he's like this!"
"He demanded to see you."
"What? Why?"
"No one knows. But he told us he was going to kill one of us if you didn't get down there immediately."
"Let me get changed."
"No. You've got to come, now."
Rose slipped on a pair of slippers and grabbed a shawl and then followed Gerard out the door.
As she was going down the stairs she saw Scarlet coming up with a customer. Their eyes met for an instant as they exchanged a look of pure hatred for each other's occupations. They both looked away, but the sting did not leave Rose.
They went through the pub. It was extremely crowded this evening; so crowded that Rose caught sight of Millie serving patrons. She knew that Millie hated working as a barmaid, but Giovanni made her do it when they were understaffed.
Rose followed Gerald through the sewers, into the barrel, through the throne room, the study, and to Ratigan's private quarters. A few of the thugs were huddled around the doorway. She had seen signs of Ratigan's wrath in the study; whole shelves had been ripped out of the bookcases, and there were claw marks on the chalkboard. But what she saw as she and Gerald entered his quarters shocked her. Almost everything had been ripped up or thrown about. Rose saw him sitting on an easy chair facing the door with a revolver on his lap, minus his jacket and cravat, and smoking a cigarette.
He simply fired the gun at them.
Gerald grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her back behind the door.
"Come back here, cowards!" Ratigan snarled.
Rose gave Gerald a bewildered look.
"Professor Ratigan, it's Gerald," the thug called out. "I've brought Miss Rose, like you wanted."
"Where is she?"
"Right here."
"Then why doesn't Miss Rose come in?" he said in a dark voice.
"Because you're shooting at us, Professor."
"She's not there! You're lying. Come out Gerald, and tell me the truth!"
"She's here. You saw her go through the door."
"So I did. Come out Rose!" he said in a mocking way.
She began to go forward, but Gerald stopped her.
"Don't be a fool!" he hissed.
"Rose? I demand that you come here, right now!"
Gerald took a deep breath. "She can't come in until you put the gun down."
"So one of you can shoot me when I'm caught off guard? How stupid do you think I am?"
"Rose doesn't have a gun."
"Let her come in, then. I don't shoot at ladies."
"Maybe it will calm him down," Rose whispered to Gerald. Then, "I'm coming sir!" She stepped into the doorway and went into the room.
Ratigan grinned at her in a demonic way. "Well, if it isn't our little Rose, come back to us. Where have you been, Rose?"
"I've been sleeping in my flat above the pub, sir."
"No, earlier."
"Sir?"
"Come closer, away from the door. Why did you miss work today?"
Rose stepped forward, about halfway between the door and Ratigan. "You gave me the day off, sir. You told me that I could have it off."
"Come closer. Day off? You don't get days off. Where were you?"
"I was looking for a gift for someone's goddaughter."
"Closer, Rose. Who?"
She was right in front of him now. "Scarlet Jones."
"Don't lie to me, Rose."
"I'm not, sir. I have no reason to-"
"Shut UP! I know where you've really been. You've been with Basil, haven't you?"
"What? No-"
"He's out there right now, waiting for me to come out!" Ratigan roared, jumping up and grabbing Rose by the front of her nightgown. He shook her violently. "Isn't he? Tell me!"
"He isn't, I swear to God he isn't!"
"You lying whore! You went and blabbed everything to him, when you were gone!"
"No! I'd never betray you, sir, never!"
"Liar! You're all liars! You all made a deal with him, so you could have all that I've worked for! Basil doesn't care about my money, he only wants me!"
"He's no out there sir!" Rose cried.
Ratigan pulled her against him with one arm, pressed the gun to her head and shouted to the door, "Come out Basil! I know what you're up to. Come out!"
Rose trembled uncontrollably, certain that the professor had gone mad.
"There's no one out there," she said quietly.
"Come out Basil, or I'll shoot her!"
"No! There's no one out there!" Rose cried. "It's only me! I'm the only one here!"
"Come on Basil. Don't hide like a coward. Come out!"
There was a dreadful silence. Rose knew that Gerald or the other thugs would not come to her aid; Ratigan might mistake them for Basil and shoot them.
"Ten, nine, eight-"
Rose knew she was going to die.
"-seven, six-"
A sliver of hope appeared. She reached for her neck.
"-five, four… what the hell are you doing?"
He cocked the gun as she yanked the locket off her neck. She held it up to him.
"The Rose you gave this to would never betray you!"
The silence seemed to consume the room. Rose held her breath, knowing that a wrong move could mean the difference between life and death now.
Ratigan let go of her and snatched the locket away from her, still pressing the gun to her head. She closed her eyes.
She heard the gun drop. It went off, causing Rose to shriek. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it had landed facing the door, so the bullet had not hit them.
She turned around just in time to see Ratigan collapse onto the ground.
Ratigan:(to Meg) I DON'T COLLAPSE!
Emma: You do go mad, though.
Ratigan: WHAT?
Leigh: Ext-nay on the ad-may, Emma.
JWJ: I don't understand. Why are all these stories about Ratigan?
Meg: Because he's my favorite villain.
Ratigan: Do you want to die?
Meg: (mocking Ratigan) I'm not on your priority list!
Ratigan: No, you're not on my list of people to be nice to. You are on my list of people to eliminate as quickly as possible.
Meg: I'm used to death threats. It's really starting to get old.
Ratigan: You're going to wish you were dead after I'm through with you!